And although she knew he couldn’t take the anxiety from her, it made her feel better to know she wasn’t alone with it.
Chapter22
Becky
She felt as if she was in a goldfish bowl. If they didn’t stop staring at her, she was going to leave as her sister had just done.
Becky had watched them slip out of the room without a word to anyone. They’d been hand in hand, which had to be a good sign, surely.
Hopefully they were fixing whatever was wrong, and she felt relief that she felt nothing but warm, sisterly feelings for both of them, and also a pang of guilt because in normal circumstances she would have known something was wrong in Rosie’s life and she would have been there for her.
It hadn’t crossed her mind that while she was staying away, her sister had been in trouble. Her sister had needed her. She’d assumed that she and Declan were living in wedded bliss.
Still, that was for later. Right now she had problems of her own.
Her own spontaneous announcement had led to consequences she hadn’t foreseen. Fixing the mess she’d got herself into wasn’t going to be easy, and would involve hurting peopleshe loved, including Will’s mother, whose unbridled delight in the situation was uncomfortable to witness.
She could see her, huddled with her own mother and grandmother and she had no doubt who they were talking about.
Becky hated being the focus of attention and right now she and Will were definitely the focus.
“You’re tense,” Will said and she flicked her gaze to their parents.
“Can you blame me? They’re gossiping. I can see it from here. What are we going to do?”
He took her hand and squeezed it. “We’re going to join them.”
“Are you mad?”
“No. The way I see it, if we join them, at least they can’t talk about us behind our backs.”
They crossed the room and Will kept a firm hold on Becky’s hand.
“You two look as if you’re having fun.” Audrey beamed at them and Becky decided that Will’s mother was the one person who might give her grandmother a run for her money in terms of tactlessness. They’d obviously been dipped in the same gene pool.
“It’s good to have a chance to catch up with everyone,” Will said calmly and his mother smiled.
“I’m just glad it’s all finally out in the open.”
Out in the open?
Will sighed. “Mum—”
“We used to talk about it,” Audrey was saying, “Didn’t we, Jenny?”
“Talk about what?” Her mother sent Becky an apologetic glance. She looked distinctly uncomfortable.
“Becky and Will. When they were growing up, we used to say how perfect they’d be together.”
What?
Becky gaped at her mother in disbelief and saw her blush furiously.
“Well, obviously we were only having fun. We weren’t serious.”
“I was serious! So were you!” Audrey laughed and nudged her. “You were worried that the two of them were such close friends and so comfortable together they might not notice that they had deeper feelings.”
Her mother had thought that?
